ACTION ALERT: Help End Torture, Cut US Aid to the Philippines!

(From our good friends at New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines)

**** URGENT ACTION ALERT ****

SIGN THE EMERGENCY ONLINE PETITION<<<<<<<<<<<

* STAND AGAINST TORTURE ON JUNE 26, THE UN INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF TORTURE

*ASK THE US APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE TO CUT US MILITARY AID TO THE PHILIPPINES AND TO REQUIRE THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT TO FULLY COMPLY WITH INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE CASE OF MELISSA ROXAS!

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June 26 is the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, a particularly significant day for those of us concerned about the continued use of this criminal act worldwide. Most recently, a US citizen of Filipino descent has fallen victim to this cruel and degrading act in the Philippines.

Her case is one of thousands of documented cases of torture, assassinations, kidnappings, and other forms of human rights violations that have gone uninvestigated and unresolved in the Philippines. Just last month the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) expressed grave concern at the routine, widespread, and unpunished use of torture by military, police, and other state officials in their country report on the Philippines. As reported by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Philip Alston, in his 2007 report, although credible evidence points to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as the main culprits behind these human rights violations, they are protected by the Philippine government’s culture of impunity which allows them to roam free. The Philippine government denies any responsibility for and frequently attempts to cover up these human rights violations, as they are also attempting to do in the case of Melissa Roxas despite her sworn testimony about her experience.

The Philippines is one of the largest recipients of US military aid in Southeast Asia. This means US tax dollars are being used as resources by the AFP to continue to perpetrate these human rights violations against innocent civilians. As US taxpayers, we need to tell our government that we DO NOT want the blood of the Filipino people on our hands.

At present, the US Senate Appropriations Committee is in the process of shaping the next US military aid package to the Philippines, and could come out with a decision as early as mid-July. Our Senators and Representatives have an influence on how our tax dollars are spent abroad. They have a responsibility to represent our concerns about how US military aid is being used to commit—and cover up—human rights atrocities in the Philippines, and to express our desire that NOT 1 CENT of our tax dollars support human rights violations in the Philippines.

In addition, a request has been made of the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee Patrick Leahy to introduce language into this year’s Appropriations bill that would require the Philippine military to full comply with the Writ of Amparo proceedings and any investigation into the case of Melissa Roxas. Please call your Senator/Representative to express your support for a thorough and impartial investigation into Melissa Roxas’ case.

SIGN THE EMERGENCY ONLINE PETITION

Because the Power of the Youth Don’t Stop!!!

There have been numerous articles and statements written about the extra-judicial killings that have occurred in the Philippines since 2001 under the regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The Philippine-based human rights organization, Karapatan, has been at the forefront of documenting these crimes. But the investigations don’t come without roadblocks, especially from those who are the perpetrators of the abuses. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are supposed to protect the people from threats foreign and domestic, but several organizations have stated that they do the exact opposite. Human Rights Watch has issued reports (“Scared Silent” & “Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines” to name a couple) on the human rights situation and directs blame towards elements of the AFP. The PNP allows these acts to continue because of their lack of action and prosecution of the killers. UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston stated in his report that: “The AFP remains in a state of almost total denial”.

With all that said, it is important to remember those who came before us. During these past eight years, three members of LFS in the Philippines have been killed and one more kidnapped and still missing. We seek to remember them and their work. Though we are the only LFS chapter in the U.S., there is a special bond we have with the LFS chapters in the Philippines. Our conditions are different, but the reasons why we joined are similar. We struggle with being a student and organizer, balancing the work with our daily lives, connecting with our peers who seem to have the big picture no where within their vision. While we are thousands of miles apart, we are all members of the LFS, all youth and students, all apart of the National Democratic movement, all fighting for true liberation for all oppressed people around the world. We will continue to fight for peoples’ basic right to change their oppressive conditions.

L-F-L-F-S TUNAY PALABAN MAKABAYAN!

Cris Hugo

-20 years old
-A native of San Julian, Irosin, Sorsogon, Philippines
-Regional Coordinator & National Council member of LFS (Bicol University, College of Arts & Letters)
-4th year Journalism student
-Newly elected Grand Chancellor of the Alpha Phi Omega Chapter at BU
-Killed on March 19, 2006 from multiple gunshots by masked gunmen on motorcycles while walking with a professor from BU

Resources:

“A Small Guy with a Big Conviction”
“LFS-SFSU: Mabuhay si Cris Hugo at ang Kilusang Kabataan”
“Youth Leader Killed in Albay”

The Only “Change” We See Is the Change Being Pocketed by the Philippine Government to Rape and Terrorize the Filipino People—BAYAN-USA

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE CASE GO TO: Another ‘Nicole’: Filipina Accuses US Marine of Rape; Case Heightens Junk-VFA Call – Bulatlat

(Fact Sheet on the case at the bottom of statement)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rhonda Ramiro, secgen@bayanusa.org
May 14, 2009 www.bayanusa.org

Vanessa, her back to the cameras, narrates her plight during a press conference on Thursday. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/Bulatlat.com)

Gabriela’s Emmi de Jesus (left) and lawyer Evalyn Ursua both say Vanessa’s case strengthens the argument against the Visiting Forces Agreement. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/Bulatlat.com)

The Only “Change” We See Is the Change Being Pocketed by the Philippine Government to Rape and Terrorize the Filipino People—BAYAN-USA

Appalled by the double-news of the rape of another Filipina woman by a U.S. Marine and the increase in U.S. financial aid to the corrupt Philippine government, BAYAN-USA reiterated its call to terminate the U.S.-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (“VFA”), which the alliance of 14 Filipino American organizations in the U.S. sees as the red carpet used to usher in U.S. troops, supplies, and military training linked to thousands of human rights violations.

Under the auspices of the VFA, over 6,000 US troops were deployed to the Philippines this past April, to engage in so-called Balikatan (“shoulder-to-shoulder”) military exercises.  In a press conference today, the 22-year-old Filipina “Vanessa” (not her real name) told the story of how she was raped in a hotel room on April 19 by a U.S. Marine, registered in hotel records as “from Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group/Balikatan.”  According to the women’s group GABRIELA, Vanessa has decided not to file a case against her alleged rapist though there is evidence to support her claim.

“We are outraged that another Filipina has become the victim of U.S. troops, and that the VFA is blocking her from obtaining justice,” said BAYAN-USA Secretary General Rhonda Ramiro.  “Last month’s acquittal of convicted rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith signals that U.S. military personnel can get away with the most heinous crimes on Philippine soil because they will be protected by the VFA.”

Alston’s New Report Gives Fil-Ams Justification to Ramp Up Pressure on Philippine Government

For Immediate Release

May 8, 2009

Reference: Katrina Abarcar, Katarungan: Center for Peace, Justice, and Human Rights in the Philippines katarungan@comcast.net

Professor Philip Alston

Justice for Rebelyn Pitao!

Alston’s Upcoming Report Gives Filipino-American Human Rights Advocates Justification to Ramp Up Pressure on Philippine Government

Washington, DC – Recent news that Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions, believes the Philippine Government has failed to institute the substantive reforms he recommended to address extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses in the country is the evidence that US Congress needs to strengthen the past conditions it placed military aid to the Philippines.

According to Katrina Abarcar, Coordinator of Katarungan: Center for Peace, Justice, and Human Rights in the Philippines. “In fact, we have basis to demand all US military aid and training to the Philippines be cut until the widespread problems extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, illegal arrests and politically motivated prosecutions of activists is indisputably solved.”

Palparan Should be in Jail, Not the Philippine Government

News Release
April 22, 2009

Reference: Peter Arvin Jabido, NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, email: nychrp@gmail.com

PALPARAN SHOULD BE IN JAIL, NOT THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT– NYCHRP
Appointment of “The Butcher” to Philippine Congress Indicates Lack of Regard for Human Rights

NEW YORK– A local Philippine human rights advocacy group is outraged over the appointment of retired Philippine military officer Jovito Palparan to the Philippine House of Representatives this week, claiming the move “will surely result in more blood of Filipino civilians in the Philippine government’s hands.”

Palparan’s appointment under the Bantay Party-list group comes after a Philippine Supreme Court decision this week to expand the number of party-list representatives in the House of Representatives to 32.

“The only house Jovito Palparan deserves to be is a jailhouse,” states Lolan Sevilla of the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines or NYCHRP.

The Philippines’ Disappearing Dissidents

Something I’ve leared in journalism class: One important aspect of news is that it’s new.

This article is almost a year old, but unfortunately its still news. The government’s war on legal activists is alive and well. Let’s use this as a reminder of why it’s important for us, U.S. citizens and residents, to continue to speak out against these atrocities. Jonas Burgos is still missing. Many more activists are still missing and are being killed as we speak. Do we really want our tax dollars supporting a government that can’t protect its own citizens? And, even worst, perpatrating these violent crimes on its own people?

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1813070,00.html

By Peter Ritter/Manila Monday, Jun. 09, 2008

On April 28, 2007, Jonas Burgos, a 37-year-old Philippine political activist, was eating lunch in Ever Gotesco shopping mall in Manila. At around 1:20 p.m., a group of four men approached his table. They spoke quietly to Burgos for about 20 minutes. Then the men began pushing him toward the mall’s exit. “I’m just an activist,” a waitress heard Burgos shout. A mall security guard approached the group. As the guard would later testify, the men warned him that they were police officers. They hustled Burgos outside and into a maroon Toyota. As the car vanished into traffic, the guard wrote down the license plate.

Burgos’ family began to worry immediately when he didn’t show up for a family event that evening. His mother, Edita, tried dialing his mobile phone, but when he answered, he seemed groggy, as though he’d been drugged. When she called again later, his phone had been turned off. Two days later, Edita Burgos called a hasty press conference to ask for help finding her son. Tips began to trickle in. One tipster, who claimed to be a former army intelligence officer, said that Jonas Burgos had been snatched by the Philippine military. “I had no sleep,” Edita Burgos recalls. “I was imagining all sorts of horrors.”

REMOVE SISON FROM TERRORIST LIST! RESUME GRP-NDFP PEACE TALKS NOW!

News Release
April 14, 2009

Reference: Peter Arvin Jabido, NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, email: nychrp@gmail.com

REMOVE SISON FROM TERRORIST LIST! RESUME GRP-NDFP PEACE TALKS NOW!

NEW YORK, NY– A human rights advocacy group in New York City is calling for the delisting of Philippine political refugee Jose Maria Sison from the foreign terrorist lists of the US State Department and the European Union (EU). Sison, an author, poet, and founding chairperson of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), has been in self-exile in the Netherlands since 1987. He is also the current Chairperson of the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS), a global formation of grassroots people’s organizations around the world opposed to the US government’s economic, political, and military intervention worldwide.

“The continued foreign terrorist listing of Professor Jose Maria Sison, the CPP and the New People’s Army (NPA) must end in order for genuine peace in the Philippine to begin,” states Lolan Sevilla of the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP). “We also cannot tolerate the continued pursuit of the Philippine government to repress Sison’s political and democratic rights.”